HC Deb 19 July 1995 vol 263 cc1433-4W
Mr. Thomason

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about progress on the 2 Marsham street development. [36659]

Mr. Gummer

The dreadful towers of the DOE's headquarters building have set a poor example to the nation. We now have a welcome opportunity to put right past mistakes and I am determined that the redevelopment of this site will set a better standard.

We need a development which will underpin the continuing regeneration of this part of Westminster by creating a welcoming environment, by attracting more life and providing for a mixture of uses. We also need to show how new and viable city centre redevelopment can complement its neighbourhood and fit in more closely with the existing urban fabric.

I have decided that these aims can best be secured through an open competition in which designers and architects will be invited to devise a new urban design framework for this site, which will make the most of the opportunity we now have. This competition will throw the field open to fresh and creative ideas for an urban design which will be attractive to those who live or work in the area.

The competition will concentrate initially on urban design rather that the architecture of individual buildings. We need a broad and flexible masterplan, not a detailed blueprint. There are several reasons for this: Many aspects of urban design on a specific site can be considered independently of detailed decisions about the use of individual buildings. This is currently often overlooked in developments on this scale; The Government are still considering whether it wishes to occupy part of the redevelopment, and if so how much; I want to keep the option of having the individual buildings which make up the redevelopment designed by different architects within the agreed urban design framework.

Concentrating on urban issues will have an important additional advantage. Since detailed architectural issues will not be considered at this stage, designers will be able to prepare competition entries more easily and at less expense. I hope that this will make it easier for smaller design practices to compete with the giants, that many young architects, from the UK and abroad, will therefore be encouraged to enter. The best entries to the competition will be exhibited to the public next year.

The next step will be to prepare the brief for this competition. This we shall do with the help of professional advisers and in consultation with the local community. In particular, our advisers will be asked to prepare an urban context study of the area which will form part of the brief for the competition. I will announce further details about this shortly.